80-Year-Old Jays Potato Chip Company Closing Plant

CHICAGO (AP) — Bankrupt potato-chip maker Jays Foods Inc. will close its plant on Chicago's South Side on Wednesday, putting 220 people out of work, the company said.

Jays, which makes Jays and Krunchers! potato chips and O-Ke-Doke popcorn, will a keep a warehouse and distribution center at the same South Side location open for an unspecified period if the sale is approved, the company said in a statement Monday. The divisions employ 420 workers.

A Jays facility in Jeffersonville, Ind., is also expected to remain open.

Chicago-based Jays, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Oct. 11, will ask a bankruptcy court Tuesday to approve its sale to pretzel maker Snyder's of Hanover, which was identified in court papers as Jays Acquisition Inc.

As it filed for bankruptcy last month, the 80-year-old company said it had hammered out a tentative deal to sell its assets to Hanover, Penn.-based Snyder's for $24.8 million.